Penguins-Capitals preview

Some news, notes and numbers in advance of the Penguins’ game against Washington at the Verizon Center tonight:

*** Rookie Jeff Zatkoff will be in goal for the Penguins for the second time in three games. He is 9-3-1 this season.

*** Coach Dan Bylsma hinted that two injured players, defenseman Robert Bortuzzo and forward Brian Gibbons, could be in the lineup tonight or the rematch Tuesday at Consol Energy Center, and that injured winger Chris Conner “is getting close to being able to return to play” but that “he’s not quite there yet.”

*** Fifteen players participating in the Penguins’ optional game-day skate. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal and Brooks Orpik were among the high-profile players who did not go on the ice.

*** Bylsma said the coaches asked Malkin what he knows about Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov, who will make his NHL debut tonight. Malkin, he said, “did have a little information on him,” but Bylsma acknowledged that the Penguins hardly have a complete book on Kuznetsov, a highly regarded 21-year-old prospect. “You really don’t have the ability to say, ‘Hey, this is who he is, what he does, what you can expect,’ ” Bylsma said. “We’re maybe anticipating that as much as anybody, what he’s going to do and where they’re going to use him.”

*** The Penguins have won six games in a row against Washington, including two this season.

*** Penguins center Sidney Crosby has 17 multiple-point games against the Capitals and has outscored Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, 46-33, in head-to-head play. Ovechkin, though, has 18 goals against the Penguins, while Crosby has 15 against the Capitals.

*** The Penguins are 18-7-4 in one-goal games, the Capitals are 17-8-10. Seven of the past 10 games between these clubs have been decided by one goal.

*** Both teams are 2-0 when the shots are even.

*** The Penguins will be trying to win consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 3-5.

*** Washington has been outscored, 56-46, during the first period this season.

*** The Penguins have gone to overtime in four of their past eight games.

*** Capitals defenseman John Carlson will be appearing in his 300th NHL game.

*** Penguins C Marcel Goc is 17-9 on faceoffs since being acquired from Florida last week.

*** Washington has lost just three of its past 17 home games in regulation.

*** The Penguins have scored at least one power-play goal in seven of their past eight games.

*** Capitals LW Jason Chimera does not have a goal in nine games.

*** The Penguins’ next road victory will be their 20th, giving them at least that many for the seventh consecutive full season.

*** Tonight’s game will wrap up a season-long five-game road trip for the Penguins. They are 2-2 in the first four.